Estonia: Reform elects PM Kristen Michal as new party chair

The Estonian Reform Party’s general assembly has elected Prime Minister Kristen Michal as the party’s new chairman, replacing former prime minister Kaja Kallas, ERR reports. Michal received 664 out of 818 votes. In his acceptance speech, Michal said that Reform’s mission was “a self-reliant people, the growth of prosperity and a strong middle class, security for economic and family growth, and a Western direction and culture.” Kallas, who led Reform since 2018, criticised the tax decisions of Michal’s government, ERR reported. She insisted that delaying the removal of the progressive “tax hump” and introducing a corporate income tax were mistakes, saying that the moves contradicted Reform’s principles. At the same time, Kallas pledged to refrain from criticising Reform’s new chairman in the future.